HOMERTON LIFE OCTOBER 2004 - Homerton University Hospital
HOMERTON LIFE OCTOBER 2004 - Homerton University Hospital
HOMERTON LIFE OCTOBER 2004 - Homerton University Hospital
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Do you have a good attitude?<br />
By Guy Young, Director of Nursing and Quality<br />
“The team could not have done more; everyone was nice<br />
and sensitive to my needs”.<br />
This comment comes from a recent survey.<br />
Wouldn’t it be great if all our patients felt like this?<br />
Unfortunately, we know that we don’t always get things right, as demonstrated through<br />
formal complaints, PALS enquiries and patient surveys. The majority of the concerns<br />
expressed are related to the way that we communicate with our patients and their families.<br />
Some patients also feel that they are not treated with dignity and respect.<br />
These concerns led to the development of a Trust ‘Code of Behaviour’. Whilst this code clearly lays out our expectations, it will<br />
not in itself change negative attitudes and behaviour. Enter Good Attitude, a new training DVD designed to help staff to better<br />
understand the need to communicate effectively. Working with a professional video company, we have produced a training<br />
tool that can be used in a variety of ways.<br />
Consisting of poor practice/good practice scenarios, based on the nine points of the Code of Behaviour, the DVD can be used<br />
to help staff see the negative effects of poor communication. Importantly it also shows how to get it right. The Trust is rolling<br />
out formal training sessions using the DVD, but individual wards and departments can also use it. A learning analysis section<br />
even allows self-directed learning, although we think the best results will be achieved in small groups who are able to discuss<br />
the scenarios in more detail.<br />
•<br />
Please contact Training and Development or Nursing Education if you would like to know more or if you would<br />
like to borrow a copy.<br />
New City<br />
governors<br />
join council<br />
We are pleased to welcome two new governors representing the City<br />
of London on the Trust’s Council of Governors, following an election<br />
held in the area in July. Geoffrey Rivett and Steve Stevenson both have links<br />
with the NHS; Geoffrey has been a GP, a medical civil servant and a historian<br />
of the NHS. Steve Stevenson is also a City resident with an active involvement<br />
in social and health care and he too has links with the hospital. He was an<br />
independent member of our last Patient Environment Inspection Team.<br />
In the news …<br />
The focus on infection control has continued with the BBC’s “should I worry about” programme,<br />
shown last month. The programme featured <strong>Homerton</strong>’s Dr Anne Marie Karcher in<br />
Whiteley’s shopping centre randomly swabbing the noses of 100 passers-by,<br />
and then explaining the process to presenter Richard Hammond …<br />
Meanwhile Prof Kate Costeloe and staff on SCBU and labour wards<br />
featured in a Panorama special, looking at really premature babies. This<br />
also included media appearances for Prof Costeloe on Richard and Judy,<br />
Radio 5 Live and the Daily Mail …<br />
Chairman Andy Windross was interviewed by local Kurdish paper Bizim<br />
Gunes about what it means to be a Foundation Trust …<br />
RNRU staff were featured in BBC Two’s “This is my family”, exploring one<br />
family’s experience of stroke ...<br />
Keep up-to-date with<br />
the latest NHS and<br />
healthcare news with “Media<br />
Watch” available under the<br />
‘News’ section on the<br />
intranet.<br />
And Sharmen Thompson, senior staff nurse on Graham Ward was featured in Nursing<br />
Standard about her role in setting up a support network for Montserrat nurses living in the UK, which<br />
also provides distance learning to those still working on the island.<br />
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